This invention relates to the incorporation of an accident recordal unit into a vehicle incorporating an electronic throttle control.
Vehicles have historically had a throttle connected to an operator demand pedal, (also known as the accelerator pedal) through some mechanical linkage. Typically, a cable or some other linkage connects the pedal mechanically to the throttle.
More recently, electronic throttle controls have been developed wherein a sensor senses the driver demand at the pedal and opens or closes the throttle based upon that demand, and through an electronic linkage. Thus, the sensor will monitor the amount of driver demand at the pedal, and send a signal to a throttle control. The throttle control will then control the throttle. These systems are becoming more and more popular, and provide valuable benefits.
One concern with electronic throttle controls occurs in determining the cause of an accident. With the prior art, mechanically connected pedals and throttles, a failure in the connection would be easily determined. That is, if the cable is cut, etc., one can easily determine this failure after an accident. However, such a determination is more difficult with an electronic throttle control.
Various proposed systems have suggested the use of an accident recordal unit on vehicles much like those found on airplanes. However, those systems have never been developed to incorporate electronic throttle control systems, nor to utilize any particular information that may come from an electronic throttle control system.
In the disclosed embodiment of this invention, an electronic throttle control electronically links an accelerator pedal to a throttle controller. A control for the system stores information with regard to throttle position, pedal position, and preferably brake position. When an accident is identified, all of the most recent information is locked into a storage memory. When investigating the cause of an accident, by identifying the more recent throttle and pedal positions, as well as the brake position, and comparing these monitored positions to the time of the accident, one can make an identification and determination of the cause of a particular accident.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.